Trader Joe's has only been in Baton Rouge for just over a week and consistently sees a surge of customers who clear products off the shelves daily.

Thursday evening, the packed grocery store's partially-filled and empty shelves had some customers scrambling to grab items that were almost gone.

"We just lucked up on one of the last cartons of $1.99 organic large brown eggs," said LSU student Taylor Simmons, 23, while shopping Thursday evening. "It's unreal how cheap some of this food is."

"I buy the chicken tikka masala here because it's cheaper," said 25-year-old Caroline Capps who said she's living on a tight budget. "This place is perfect for budget shopping."

A mix of budget shoppers, first-time visitors who were "just browsing" and loyalists dropped by, some to buy exclusive and hard-to-find items.

"This is the only place where I can get Two Buck Chuck," said Tom Bishop, 79, who lives in Mandeville. He traveled to Baton Rouge just for Charles Shaw wine, a product exclusive to Trader Joe's. "The wine is very inexpensive and then it's the Trader Joe's brand. I can't get it anywhere else."

Customer Brandt Rehardy 57, wasn't able to get everything he visited the store for. "They don't have anymore reduced fat milk," he said looking at the empty shelf.

But while the grocery chain is still a novelty to the area, it's hard to tell whether customers will continue to flock to the Acadian Village Shopping Center or if the trend will soon settle into the norm.

Store captain Brian Augustine said in his 10 years with the company, he's seen several openings, however wouldn't comment on how he's seen the trend fare. "We can never predict the outcome of the store opening," he said.

Augustine said part of the privately-held company's success is its ability to offer unique products from across the globe that are healthy and sold at competitive prices.

"Our buying philosophy is that we travel the globe to obtain unique and exciting products for our customers to buy," Augustine said, adding that "Over 85 percent of the items under the Trader Joe's private labels have no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives."

According to Augustine, the staff continuously re-stocks the shelves throughout the day.

He wouldn't name any specific items that were the fastest sellers, but four jars of Cookie Butter and three bottles of Charles Shaw wine were visibly set aside at the store's customer service station.

"I believe the response has been great from the community. They have been great to us and we're looking forward to providing good groceries," Augustine said.